Logs were no longer a 'hop-off' situation. Where I had trouble descending or climbing, I now found that the bike was doing all I asked of it. Where I once had no confidence on downhill/uphill transitions, I now rolled through. If MTB is a religion, the Stache was my prophet. He graciously offered to loan me his personal, modified 2013 Trek Stache 8 and recommended I try out some other bikes too. I talked to a friend who worked at the LBS. At the end of the ride I compared my bike to a friend’s Wal-Mart special and even his bike had the crank mounted higher off the ground than mine (recall first picture of bike, where the chain ring is bottoming out on the log)! That was it, I needed a new bike. Then I wasn't clearing logs that my buddies cleared with relative ease. I had to watch out for every root and rock even on straight sections. Well as I was out cycling for the first time in the year I kept noticing that my pedals seemed to have no clearance. To add insult to injury, after I crashed last season I was pedaling through a turn and my pedal hit a rock and lifted the back tire out from under me, so I actually crashed twice that day. Winter thawed and I was determined to get into the sport more for fitness and awesomeness. Not as bad as some injuries that I've read on here, just some nasty scrapes and had the wind knocked out of me (ego went into a coma though), but I couldn't ride with much pace the whole rest of the season. I tossed the handlebars downwards and supermanned to the ground, and hard. None of that worked, but too late, I was launching. I chickened out, grabbed the brakes, visually focused on the drop in front of me instead of the trail ahead, and in a last ditch effort tried to yank the handlebars up (instead of moving my hips rearwards). I tried going off a drop off, having no idea how what the proper technique was, and proceeded to do literally everything wrong. Then again, at the time, I had trouble understanding why a nice bike cost more than $300 with the logic, "bikes are everywhere, they're so simple, and motorcycles can cost as cheap as $3k new so a dumb bicycle should be nearly free!"Īnyways, I rode off and on for two years, got a few riding buddies, annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd had a bad crash. At the time, I couldn't imagine why anyone would pay over 2 grand for a simple mountain bike. 29ers seemed like a clown shoe to me, and I half bought that bike because of the colors. I liked that it had hydraulic brakes most of all, but of course was also excited about the suspension fork, meaty tires, and 27 whole speeds. So I decided to get a MTB 4 years ago and wound up getting a 2011 Trek 4300 Disc. Still haven't demo'd a FS bike (foreshadowing to the next few years?). TL:DR entry level mountain bike is only mediocre, Stache is fun. It's a bit of a story, but I'll try and keep it entertaining. " Every cyclist has something to teach and something to learn." Randonneuring (very long-distance cycling)Įmbs's (Fairly) Definitive Guide to Cold Weather Clothingĭoc: Mountain Bike Wide Range Cassette Spreadsheet If you need help choosing a bike, check out u/Bmied31's absolutely amazing Mountain Bike Buying Guide, as well as his equally amazing FAQ. No fundraising, karma-baiting or cryptic post titles. If you want to submit a trail or bike photo instead – your new bike leaning against a tree, or the view from top of the trail, for example – add it to the Weekly Gear Gallery Thread. The general rule is photo and video submissions to /r/mtb should be of people riding mountain bikes. Photos should be of people riding mountain bikes. If you need help choosing a bike, please be sure to tag your post with the WhichBike flair, and include some basic information, like your price range and the type of riding you'll be doing. If you think your post was removed by mistake, use the message the moderators link in the sidebar and include a link to your post. On the other hand, be generous with upvotes. Do not downvote opinions just because you disagree with them. Remember to vote based on quality, not opinion, and keep your submission titles factual and opinion-free. Please follow proper reddiquette, and if you haven't already, take a moment to read our wiki page and learn a bit about the site's history. We are a cycling community enthusiastic about mountain biking and all things related.
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